The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper In Mono: Yeah, It's Pretty Damn Good

After reading this post on Gizmodo back in April, we couldn't help but start digging around to find some Sergeant Pepper's mono rips from the vinyl. And find it we did: the rip is happily waiting on the internet in a torrent of questionable legality. But, to be frank, it's the only way to get the tracks aside from a (pricey) original slab of vinyl, so we were willing to take the risk. Was it worth it? Yes. Was it better than stereo? Debatable.

The argument behind the mono mix being "better" is a pretty simple one: the band and George Martin were present for the mono mix, and much longer was spent on it than the stereo mix. Apparently many argue that the stereo mix was still novelty at this point, and so it's almost meaningless. However, that misses some facts that are certainly important, if not crucial.

First, the stereo mix was created by Geoff Emerick. Now, while certainly not a Beatle, Emerick is a producer and engineer of quite a bit of reknown. It's not as though he walked in off the street and made a mix. He was present during all of the recordings and intimately involved with the record. Second, what defines a "novelty" mix? Any mix puts the music in new light, so is one mix more "important" than another? It seems far more fitting to define a mix as being truer to the artist's vision, which may be true of the mono mix in this case. That being said, to trivialize the stereo mix seems to ignore the fact that clearly someone thought it was true to the album's character, or they wouldn't have mixed it that way.

So, caveats aside, what do you get with the mono mix? Well, in short, you get a different mix. Yes, many sources glamorize it as the "true" mix, or "infinitely more exciting", or "the way it was meant to be", but those all seem like rather extreme opinions. The reality is that the record is noticeably different, but questionable in its superiority. Yes, the guitars certainly rock harder, which is actually quite nice. The instrumental emphasis is also quite different, and most of the songs take on a different character that has a bit more oomph to it. Perhaps most notable is the mix of "She's Leaving Home", which, with a different tape speed and key, has a completely different feel.

It's very hard to say what makes a release "true" to the original vision. Every year, record companies pile on release after release of reimagined, remixed, and remastered reissues. In an attempt to take advantage of new technologies, these versions offer the listener a new and exciting view into the music. Is the surround sound mix of Young Americans the original vision? Obviously not, as the technology didn't exist then. Still, it's pretty damn cool. Even the Beatles have jumped on the bandwagon, with the Love album being released in DVD-Audio, and George Martin extolling the format's virtues.

So, that being said, we're uncertain where all this concept of the "true" mix comes from. A mix is a dynamic beast, and we wonder what these same listeners would be saying had the stereo mix of Pepper never existed. Would they be begging for one, in order to add to the dynamics and instrumental separation of the mix? It makes you wonder.

We're just glad to have another way to hear one of our favorite albums. The Beatles created some of the most fantastic records of all time, and we wouldn't mind if we got to hear them ten different ways, let alone two. Getting to hear one of their records in a new light is frankly, enough of a treat to satisfy us for quite a while, "true" mix or otherwise. We have no idea when this mix will see official release, so if you find yourself wanting to hear a new take on Sergeant Pepper, we recommend you do just that. Mono or stereo, it's The Beatles, people. Were you expecting it to suck?